The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported it handed out bonuses to senior employees amounting to a massive £607m, despite making a pre-tax loss of £5.2bn in 2012.
The bank, which is 82pc owned by the tax payer, made the loss after having to pay huge charges related to the mis-selling of products, as well as accounting.
A report from the Payments Council has revealed that in 2011 supermarkets took 58pc of the entire retail spend in the UK. This means that almost 60p in every pound spent on the high street goes to supermarkets, a figure that is up from 48p compared to 2001, and marks an all time high
Barclays has said it will cut 3700 jobs and will close its tax avoidance unit after the latest strategic review from the company. 1800 of the job cuts will be made in the investment banking sector, of which 1600 have already been made, in a move that is aimed at cutting annual costs and improving standards.
There is fresh optimism that another period of recession, the third in just over five years in the UK, will be avoided.
A report from ICAEW / Grant Thornton Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) has revealed that business confidence is now at the highest level since the second quarter of 2011
The FSA have launched an investigation into pension annuities, a market that is worth £11bn, after it was revealed that there are growing concerns British pensioners are not getting a fair deal in return for their pension fund when they retire.
An annuity in simple terms is the income you get from your pension once you retire.
After the collapse of HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster in the last month, Amazon, one of the online retailers widely considered to have taken over a large part of the market these companies operated in, reported very contrasting results.
The company posted a set of results which showed sales had topped $21bn in the final quarter of 2012, enforcing its position as the largest online retailer in the world.
The UK economy shrank by 0.3pc in the last four months of 2012, making the possibility of entering into recession for the third time since 2007 all the more likely.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the fall in GDP was most likely down to a reduced output from the North Sea and manufacturers
A survey carried out by the TheRetirementCentre.com has revealed that an incredible 81pc of over 50’s say they will no longer be seeking financial advice, as the fee they have to pay upfront is too much. When looking at the total population of over 50’s in the UK, this equates to an astonishing 17 million people.
Blockbuster, another high street entertainment chain has reportedly entered into administration in the same week as competitor HMV. Entertainment giant Blockbuster, the UK market leader for DVD rentals, also sells new DVD’s, and games for a variety of platforms.
High street music chain HMV has called in the administrators after months of financial uncertainty have finally come to a head.
Deloitte will take charge of the process, and if a buyer for the chain is failed to be found, there will be severe consequences for the 4,350 employees across 238 stores, who would lose their jobs.
